Buckeye Breed Thread

[Blueface]

Hey Joe:

Thank you for showing your Buckeyes this past weekend at the Wapakoneta show and CONGRATULATIONS on your Best of Breed (BB) and Reserve of Breed (RB) wins!

Chris

You're welcome......I'm glad to put one back up on Champion Row......they look good up there!

 

[cgmccary]

You're welcome......I'm glad to put one back up on Champion Row......they look good up there!

Yes and congratulations on CHAMPION AMERICAN -- always tough to do in any show in the hotbed of Large Fowl country!

 

[buffalogal]

Just so it is not my computer screen or my imagination, I have to ask if those ABPC sponsored buckeye BB and RB trophies are orange. They sure look orange to me!

My goodness DRT, is it really that hard to say 'Congratulations Joe on a job well done!' and leave it at that? It's not like anyone at the ABPC designed those trophies. Money was sent to the club that hosted the show and *they* ordered them. If you ask this little Granny, I'd say it takes a special flavor of sour to complain about a trophy you didn't pay for. (and didn't win)

And BTW, Congratulations Joe on a job well done.

 

[Blueface]

Congratulations Joe on a job well done.

Thanks

 

[MeanV2]

Ok! I have been reading this thread for a while and I am over 200 pages right now. I thought I would ask this ? I have Buckeye chicks coming next week. Should I start them right off on the Purina Game Bird Chow Startena or mix with medicated chick starter for a while? or offer both separately?

Any other tips on feeding and getting them started correctly would be appreciated. Do most of you vaccinate your chicks for Mareks?

Thanks!
Dan

 

[buffalogal]

Don't offer them separately. Use one or the other. If it were me, I'd go with the game bird starter. Keep the brooder clean and you shouldn't have trouble with cocci, but oif you did, you can add Sulmet to their water to clear it up.

 

[Pathfinders]

Not to contradict Buffalo Gal (who is a very wise woman indeed), I have to say, I think it depends on the individual farm. Some farms have more of a Cocci load than others, and I think that makes a difference as to whether you should use medicated feed.

I always use a medicated Turkey starter for my Buckeye chicks, for at least the first few weeks. I cut it with a medicated chick starter to bring the protein down to about 20%, and then slowly switch them over to the 18% feed I use for my adult birds at about 8 weeks.

I used to not use medicated feed and had unacceptable losses from Cocci. I think it all depends on where you are and whether or not the protazoa is in the soil. Sulmet is ok, but it didn't work well enough for me. So I went with a medicated feed for the chicks.

Also, I used to vaccinate for Marek's, and I found I wasn't having a lot of trouble with it, so I stopped. But some folks do have trouble with it, so for the first time I am offering it to my customers this year, at just the cost of the vaccine (no additional charge for my time.) It's not cheap though, $35.45 for the vaccine and the shipping!

 

[Pathfinders]

And, if you want to vaccinate your chicks for Marek's and haven't ever done so, I have a visual and written tutorial on our website here:

http://www.pathfindersfarm.com/Vaccinate.html

 

[cgmccary]

Ok! I have been reading this thread for a while and I am over 200 pages right now. I thought I would ask this ? I have Buckeye chicks coming next week. Should I start them right off on the Purina Game Bird Chow Startena or mix with medicated chick starter for a while? or offer both separately?

Any other tips on feeding and getting them started correctly would be appreciated. Do most of you vaccinate your chicks for Mareks?

Thanks!
Dan

I also don't mean to contradict anyone else here. You are going find different answers because there is more than one right way & what works for one might not work somewhere else.

I feed my Buckeye chicks the Purina Game Bird Chow Startena (not medicated) for about the first 8 weeks or until the last bag runs out (in other words, I won't go and buy a new bag if I am at week 7 nor will I switch if I am a third of the way through a bag at the end of 8 weeks). I switch to the Game Bird Chow Conditioner (19%) at about 8 weeks (also not medicated). I have never had an outbreak of cocci.

Mostly, I try to let hens raise my chicks (and of course, no need for medicated feed). When I do brooder rear indoors, sometimes, I have used Sulmet in their water the first few days they are out on the ground as a precaution. I have not always done this, just sometimes.

The hens will take their chicks to poop piles and everywhere else and those are some of the healthiest looking, energetic chicks I have ever seen. I am a big fan of hen raised (outside) chicks. Hen raised chicks are also eating lots of other things besides their feed. They do well out free ranging and are fun to watch.

 

[MeanV2]

Ok! I appreciate all the suggestions, but I do want to make sure I am clear on what to try. Hens rearing chicks is not an option so they will be in a brooder. Mixing the Startena & medicated feed is not a good idea?

Where do I get Sulmet? What about Sav-A-Chick? or Big Ole Bird supplements?

I appreciate everyones input and I realize things are not always 1 + 1 = 2 Opinions is what I am looking for. I just don't want my chicks to suffer from my inexperience.

Dan